There's a single DS9 episode[0] where they reveal that the Captain can actually spy on everyone on the ship at once. Like tap into a video feed and listen to conversations. But then we never see this happen again.

My headcannon for this is that even though it's technically possible, it's so unethical they just choose to never do it.

[0] https://memory-alpha.fandom.com/wiki/Valiant_(episode)#:~:te...

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protocolture 5 days ago | parent | next [-]

>My headcannon for this is that even though it's technically possible, it's so unethical they just choose to never do it.

IF theres something unethical that they choose not to do, you can be sure Sisko is doing it.

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matheusmoreira 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

"Humans are ethical and behave morally" is a core idea behind every Star Trek episode featuring the Enterprise. Its relentless optimism is almost innocent in nature...

DS9 is great because it showed us the darker side of the federation. They can afford to be like this because they've got Space CIA committing atrocities behind the scenes since day one.

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cout 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

I don't remember that episode. But it does not surprise me that the Cardassians would build that feature into their station.

	▲	varenc 5 days ago \| parent [-]
		This was actually on a Defiant-class ship being captained by Starfleet recruits/kids! The captain was just an older cadet that the original dying captain placed in command. Which fits with my headcannon that real Starfleet captains wouldn't so this.

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vkou 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

The mirror universe captain of the Enterprise-C uses that exact functionality, in conjunction with a disintegration beam to quietly disappear problem crew members.

	▲	abricot 4 days ago \| parent [-]
		Or beam them and delete the buffer

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mistyvales 5 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Odo spies on Quark in Season 2. Think it was the Maquis two-parter? He doesn't care about Federation ethics early on though.

	▲	varenc 5 days ago \| parent \| next [-]
		Hah but the majority of the time Odo spys on Quark by morphing into a common place object like a table or glass. My new headcannon will have to be that Quark keeps removing Odo's spy sensors. Odo definitely would use them if he could.
	▲	pndy 4 days ago \| parent \| prev [-]
		Pretty sure Odo spied on Quark all the time - kinda weird but useful hobby

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amelius 4 days ago | parent | prev [-]

What happened to capitalism in Star Trek? Shouldn't the data be sold to the highest bidder?